A former Volkswagen official in the US has been arrested on fraud charges in the diesel emissions probe, the media reported on Tuesday.

Oliver Schmidt, who headed Volkswagen's regulatory compliance office in the US from 2014 to March 2015, appeared in a court here on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Schmidt and other Volkswagen executives were accused of covering the automaker's emissions fraud from US regulators in a scandal dubbed "Dieselgate" by the media.

According to lawsuits filed against Volkswagen, Schmidt gave made-up technical explanations for over-standard emissions of the company's diesel vehicles since late 2014.

The Volkswagen Group acknowledged in September 2015 that they designed the "defeat device" to allow the vehicles to pass emission tests.

The arrest of Schmidt has brought the case into the executive ranks.